What should the response be to someone wanting to be paid in cash for a service?

[phylny]

18. Good answers from all.

I will find out, but I believe that unless she's a housekeeper that we employ on a full time basis (we do not), she's providing a service for us, she is not our employee. I will be certain to find that out.

And of course, when I said "tax police" I didn't mean I'd call the actual police (duh), but the IRS - which I won't do. She's not an undocumented immigrant (I come across plenty of them in my work with Early Intervention, and I'm not calling anyone on them either).

I think doc03 said it best - think of the underground economy and the number of people not paying into the system. Of course the corporations aren't paying their fair share, but that doesn't mean that it's okay for other people not to pay their taxes, either.

I'm not begrudging anyone anything, pisces. I was just wondering what others thought about this underground economy, how I should respond, etc. We make a good salary and pay our taxes willingly. I have no idea how much she makes, nor do I care.

Just wondering about cash versus check. I'll check into what obligation I have, if any, for tax liability. I'm certainly not looking to deduct the cleaning as an expense